Bottom dump car



y 1967 w. A. WEBSTER 3,331,517

BOTTOM DUMP CAR Filed March 8, 1965 FIG.2 30

INVENTOR. w.1./-\. WEBSTER ATTO RN EY United States Patent 3,331,517 BOTTOM DUMP CAR Warwick I. A. Webster, Oriilia, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Dorr-Oliver Incorporated, Stamford, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 437,792 Claims priority, application Canada, Sept. 4, 1964, 910,999 6 Claims. (Cl. 2214-58) This invention relates to the manufacture of bottom dump cars such as those commonly used in mining operations and is particularly concerned with a dump car having an improved arrangement for discharge of material, which arrangement is particularly adapted to automatic operation.

Bottom dump cars essentially consist of wheeled boxlike vehicles, most often adapted to be moved from place to place on rails. In their most common form they are provided with hinged bottoms whereby contained material may be discharged through the bottoms into hoppers or the like. As used in mining operations, they are usually filled with ore at a mine face, moved along rails to elevators, raised to ground level and moved along further rails to a hopper. The hinged bottoms are latched in the closed position and suffer the disadvantage that the weight of the contained material is largely supported by the hinges and latches. It is also common to arrange the hinge at the forward end of the car with the result that when discharging the car into a hopper, it must be moved well into the dump station before dropping the bottom door. This takes time as contrasted with an arrangement which will permit opening of the bottom immediately as the car moves into the dump station. Another drawback of the drop type bottom door is that space must be provided above the hopper to accommodate the opening door and space must also be provided to accommodate a door closing ramp.

It has also been found that a dump car having a hinged bottom is not well'suited to discharge, particularly automatic discharge, while in a hoist carriage. Accordingly,

' with the cars known heretofore it has been necessary to remove the cars from the hoist carriages prior to discharge and it has long been recognized that considerable time cost savings could be effected if it were possible to empty the cars While in the hoist carriages.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a dump car construction which eliminates the usual hinged bottom opening as to avoid the disadvantages inherent in the known cars resulting from the use of these hinged bottoms.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a bottom dump car having an arc gate which, when arranged in a first position, closes a lower opening in the chassis of the car and, when arranged in a second position, exposes said opening for discharge of contained material.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dump car having an arc gate which is so constructed to eliminate strain on its hinged mounting so as to ensure longer life for the hinge.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dump car having an arc gate discharge means which is par ticularly adapted to automatic operation having the additional advantage that a complete discharge can be carried out while the car is in motion.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dump car having an arc gate discharge means which is adapted to be discharged in a hoist cage as to avoid the need to remove the car from the cage prior to discharge.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a ice hoist carriage particularly adapted to use with bottom dump cars in accord with the invention.

These and other objects of the invention will be more thoroughly understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a bottom dump car in accord with this preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the car illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation View of a discharge station showing somewhat schematically a hopper and a number of dump cars in accord with the invention moving across the open top of the hopper as to illustrate the automatic discharge of the cars; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevation View of a portion of an elevator shaft showing a hoist carriage containing a bottom dump car in accord with the invention and further showing devices for discharging the car while it remains in the hoist carriage.

Referring to FIG. 1, the bottom dump car in accord with the illustrated embodiment of the invention essentially consists of a Wheeled chassis Ill having a pair of upstanding walls 12 connected together at one end of the chassis by transverse end wall 14 and an arc gate 15 adapted to be raised and lowered as to open and close a bottom opening in the chassis.

Chassis 10 consists of four structural members fixed together to form an open rectangular frame with the side members carrying suitable bearings for the reception of transverse axles carrying the wheels. The latter are preferably the common type of railway wheel and are adapted to engage the rails 20 in the usual manner. This type of chassis is essentially the same type as has been used for many years in the prior bottom dump cars. The chassis is further provided with the known expedient of a pair of side curtains 22 and 24 which serve to prevent discharging material from passing through the spaces above the rails at the sides of the car.

The side walls 12 extending upwardly from the chassis preferably comprise heavy gauge steel plates which are reinforced by a number of channel sections or the like which are welded thereto. These reinforcing members inelude a pair of members 26 which extend at an angle from one end of the chassis to a point intermediate its length. These members 26, in addition to providing support for the side walls 12, have the function of supporting the arc gate when the latter is positioned to close the opening in the chassis so that the weight of the contained material is largely supported by the side walls 12. It will also be noted that the end wall 14 is preferably sloped over its portion 14a as to ensure complete discharge of the car.

The are gate 16 essentially consists of a pair of pieshaped side walls 30 also formed of plate steel and are preferably reinforced by a pair of channel members or the like 32 and 34. The side walls are connected together by a transverse wall 36 which in the preferred form of the invention is shaped as an arc of a circle. However, this transverse wall could be a straight member, the advantage of the are shape being that the volume of the car is that much larger.

The are gate is pivotally attached to the side walls 12 and is preferably provided with a transverse axle 38 but in any case, the arc gate is adapted to be moved from the position shown in FIG. 1, in which position it closes the bottom opening in the chassis to the raised position shown in FIG. 3, in which position the bottom opening is exposed as to permit discharge of the contained material.

To provide automatic raising and lowering of the arc gate, it is provided with one or more bearings 40, preferably rollers, which are adapted to engage one or more cam tracks 42 which are so curved above the hopper opening 44 as to automatically open the arc gate as the car moves past the hopper opening 44. It can be seen that by moving the cars at a predetermined speed, the cars can be completely emptied as to discharge int-o the hopper opening 44 without bringing them to a stop. The travel of the cars over the hopper opening can be effected in either direction. This automatic discharge operation which stems from the principle of using an arc gate has several advantages over the method of discharging the dump cars known heretofore. First of all, of course, the operation is completely automatic and requires no operator stationed at the hopper for manually opening the cars. Secondly, the principle of raising the arc gate avoids the drawback of the prior bottom dump cars which employed hinged buttoms which opened downwardly as with these prior cars it was necessary to see that the cars were moved well into position over the hopper opening before it was possible to drop the hinged bottoms. Accordingly, the discharge method capable with the dump cars in accord with this invention is much faster than the method required with the prior dump cars.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a still further advantage of the dump car in accord with the invention is related to the adaptability of these cars to discharge while positioned in a hoist carriage by an automatic operation.

FIG. 4 shows an elevator shaft 50 with a hoist carriage 52 positioned therein and carrying a dump car. As is usual, the hoist carriage is raised and lowered by means of a cable 54. The carriage is open at one side whereby to permit reception of the dump car at the bottom of shaft 50. The carriage is provided with suitable rail sections for holding the dump car and also carries a deflector plate 56 whereby discharged material may be caused to move out through a second opening in the hoist carriage into a hopper or the like 58. It is to be noted that while the particular hoist carriage 52 illustrated is adapted to carry only one dump car, it might be modified to carry a plurality of dump cars, in which case it will also be provided with a number of deflector plates 56. In this case, a number of dump cars may be loaded on the hoist carriage at the bottom of the shaft and might all be discharged simultaneously at the top of the shaft.

To provide for opening of the arc gate when used in a hoist carriage as shown in FIG. 4, the dump car is provided with a suitable bracket 69 which may be engaged by a manually operated or automatically operated hook 62, two preferred versions of automatic means being shown in FIG. 4. These illustrated automatic hook means consist of pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders 63 adapted to be swung into position for engagement with bracket 64 by a second cylinder 64 or by a counter-balance system 66 with the actual opening of the arc gate being effected by the cylinder 63.

The particular use of the dump car in accord with the invention, as shown in FIG. 4, is an important one because with the usual type of hinge bottom dump car known heretofore, it has not been practical to provide means for discharging the cars while in the hoist carriages particularly by an automatic operation. It will be appreciated that this further use of the dump car is possible by the principle of using an arc gate for'the closure means for the dump car opening.

It will be further appreciated that the hoist carriage illustrated in FIG. 4 is an improvement on hoist carriages known heretofore and is so constructed as to be particularly adapted to use with the dump car in accord with this invention. To this end, the carriage is provided with the deflector plate 56 and a side opening adjacent. the

4 plate for discharge of material through the side of the carriage. As previously mentioned, the carriage may be adapted to receive two or more cars as desired.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A bottom dump car comprising a wheeled chassis having a bottom opening, a pair of opposed car side Walls extending upwardly from said chassis, an end wall connecting said side walls at one end of the car, and an arc gate for enclosing the other end of the car and having a pair of side walls interconnected by a transverse wall, said are gate being pivotally mounted upon said car side walls for rotation about a transverse axis and adapted to be pivoted from a first position in which said transverse wall closes the chassis bottom opening to a second position in which said opening is exposed for the discharge of material contained within the car.

2. A bottom dump car as claimed in claim 1 in which the transverse wall of said arc gate takes the form of an arc of a circle.

3. A bottom dump car as claimed in claim 1 in which said are gate side walls carry at least one bearing member adapted to engage tracks positioned parallel to the path of movement of the dump car and curved in a vertical plane whereby automatic operation of said are gate about its transverse axis may be eifected.

4. A bottom dump car as claimed in claim 1 in which said are gate carries bearing members adapted to engage bearing members carried by said car side walls for transmission of vertical forces between said respective bearing members when the arc gate is closed whereby the weight of contained material is largely supported by said bearing members.

5. A bottom dump car as claimed in claim 4 wherein said are gate bearing members consist of elongated structural reinforcement members fixed to the side walls of the gate and, when the gate is closed, extend obliquely downwardly from the area of the pivotal mounting of a the arc gate toward said other end of the car, and wherein said car side wall bearing members consist of elongated structural reinforcement members positioned on the car side walls to mate with and support said are gate bearing members when the gate is closed.

yA bottom-dump-car system comprising:

(a) a bottom dump car having a wheeled chassis adapted for longitudinal motion, a chassis-mounted,

- material-containing enclosure with a bottom opening and an open end, an arc gate for enclosing said open end and for normally closing said bottom opening, said are gate being pivotally mounted upon said enclosure about a transverse axis, and gate operating bearing members mounted on said gate and extending from the sides of the car;

(b) and a dump station including gate-operating tracks extending within vertical planes parallel to the longitudinal direction of the dump car at the station, said tracks being so positioned and vertically curved as to engage said bearing members as the car moves longitudinally through the station to actuate said gate to discharge material contained in the car through 7 said bottom opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 677,847 7/1901 Akers 29 8-25 X 1,001,334 8/1911 Baisden. 1,403,017 1/1922 Dunbar -283 X 1,594,863 8/1926 varner 2l463 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner. ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Examiner. 

1. A BOTTOM DUMP CAR COMPRISING A WHEELED CHASSIS HAVING A BOTTOM OPENING, A PAIR OF OPPOSED CAR SIDE WALLS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID CHASSIS, AN END WALL CONNECTING SAID SIDE WALLS AT ONE END OF THE CAR, AND AN ARC GATE FOR ENCLOSING THE OTHER END OF THE CAR HAVING A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS INTERCONNECTED BY A TRANSVERSE WALL, SAID ARC GATE BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED UPON SAID CAR SIDE WALLS FOR ROTATION ABOUT A TRANSVERSE AXIS AND ADAPTED TO BE PIVOTED FROM A FIRST POSITION IN WHICH SAID TRANSVERSE WALL CLOSES THE CHASSIS BOTTOM OPENING TO A SECOND POSITION IN WHICH SAID OPENING IS EXPOSED FOR THE DISCHARGE OF MATERIAL CONTAINED WITHIN THE CAR. 